Hammond is Eeyore no more

UK

The British press focused mainly on Chancellor Philip Hammond’s budget, released Wednesday. The Times led with “Hammond eases off austerity.” It also featured a story on Russians “suspected of hacking Uber user’s accounts.” The Guardian led with “Hammond struggles to lift the gloom” and also featured a story on former Bosnian-Serb commander Ratko Mladić’s conviction for genocide. The tabloid Daily Mail, which previously nicknamed Hammond “Eeyore” — after the glum donkey in Winnie-the-Pooh — declared the chancellor was “Eeyore no more!”

Germany

TAZ’s front page was dominated by the Mladić verdict, with the headline: “Lifelong,” referring to his sentence. Der Tagesspiegel focused on delays to the opening of the Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport, which was originally set to begin operating in 2011 but cost overruns and construction errors have caused repeated delays. “2,000 days since the non-opening,” Tagesspiegel noted. The paper also featured a story on the Mladić verdict. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported the six Syrians arrested earlier this week on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack on a Christmas market were released.

France

Le Monde led with “Corsica: the push of the nationalists,” reporting on a regional election on the island in December. The paper also covered Zimbabweans celebrating “the end of Mugabe’s era.” Le Figaro opened with “Debt, deficit: for Brussels, the account does not exist,” reporting on the European Commission’s Wednesday reprimand of Paris for not moving faster to cut its deficit below the EU-imposed limit of 3 percent of GDP. La Dépêche led with news of a Thursday meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and a group of dissatisfied mayors: “What Macron wants to tell the mayors.”

Spain

La Vanguardia reported on Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s efforts to convince the nearly 1,900 companies that have left Catalonia since its disputed independence referendum on October 1 to return. ABC’s front page featured a striking illustration of a man about to walk into a trap adorned in a Catalan flag, with a headline referring to the “trap” of Catalan separatism. El Pais reported on a rape case as well as the Mladić verdict.

Italy

Corriere Della Sera reported Silvio Berlusconi was “optimistic” of success in his case at the European Court of Human Rights. The court held its first hearing Wednesday on the former Italian PM’s appeal against a ban on running for public office as a result of a 2013 tax-fraud conviction. La Repubblica led with an interview with Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan.

tony

I had not even heard of the political cartoonist who is used in the first picture. I went to his web page. He is a socialist activist. He is not even very good is he, judging by the stuff on his web site.

Can you not find anyone better to make an incisive comment?

Posted on 11/23/17 | 9:31 AM CET

Editors reply

Not really, have to be very selective and search for long periods to obtain corroborating articles or ‘evidence’ to support the ‘slant’ that we put forward.
Sensationalism sells, facts don’t.